Finland has traditionally been a country of emigration from where people have migrated, particularly to Sweden and the United States. However, migration figures of recent decades show that Finnish society has become a destination to more and more migrants. Net migration to Finland has
increased from the beginning of the 1990s, affecting significantly cultural and ethnic diversity in the Finnish society, including schools. In 2018, 7.3 per cent of the total population living in Finland had a foreign background, i.e., they had immigrated to Finland or were second generation, both of whose parents or the only known parent had immigrated to Finland (Statistics Finland, 2019a). The peak in the number of asylum seekers in Europe in 2015 also increased significantly the number of asylum seekers in Finland. In 2015, more than 30,000 people sought asylum in Finland as compared with 3,000–4,000 annual applicants in previous years (Finnish Immigration Service, 2019). Until 2015, the two biggest groups immigrating to Finland were for many years Russian and Estonian nationals. In 2017, the top three nationalities immigrating to Finland were Iraqis, Estonian, and Syrians (Ministry of Interior, 2018). Russian, Estonian, Arabic, Somali, and English, in that order, were the five most commonly registered foreign-languages in Finland in 2018 (Statistics Finland, 2019b).
2.1 ADOLESCENT-PARENT RELATIONSHIPS
The family background of adolescents differs to some extent by adolescent’s migration status. About every fourth adolescent with immigrant backgound in Helsinki were living in a single parent family (20% of adolescents with non-migrant backgound) in 2013. Low income and lower educational level of the parents are more common in immigrant families than among non-immigrant families. In Helsinki, 45% of the minors with migrant background lived in low-income households (income less than 60% of the median income of the entire population), while the corresponding share among
non-immigrant children and adolescents was 10% in 2013. Unemployment of the both parents was reported by 15% of first-generation immigrant adolescents (6% in second generation, 3% in entire population). (Ranto, Ahlgren-Leinvuo, Haapamäki, & Högnabba, 2015).
Studies conducted on intergenerational relationships of immigrant families in Finland are in line with the results of international research on immigrant families in the Western contexts. These studies indicate that adolescent-parent relationships in immigrant families are generally close and
supportive, and dating and sexuality are the themes that generally distinguish intergenerational negotiations of immigrant families from adolescent-parent negotiations in non-immigrant families. A study on intergenerational negotiations on immigrant adolescents’ romantic
relationships showed how both parents and their children are aiming to find a common ground in their negotiations over dating, choice of partner, and pre-marital sexual relations (Peltola, Keskinen, Honkasalo, & Honkatukia, 2017). Interviewed adolescents of the study expressed both the importance of
’free will’ and respect for parents. ‘Selective revealing’ was recognized as a strategy adolescent used when it came to dating – and parents were often aware of this selectivity (ibid.). Interview studies on adolescent-parent relationships have found that ‘Finnish’ family life is often appearing as somewhat untempting for both immigrant adolescents and immigrant parents. A central role of the family and close family relationships may be considered as more highly valued in immigrant communities compared to
‘Finnish families’ (Honkasalo, Harinen, & Anttila, 2007, 19). Peltola (2016) found that while immigrant parents often expressed their worries on their
‘too Finnish’ children, adolescents themselves did not idealize Finnishness or try particularly to be “a Finn”. While it has been common for immigrant adolescents to emphasize the good parental relations in the interview studies, also difficulties in adolescent-parent communication have been reported.
According to a nationwide survey on adolescents’ health and well-being, immigrant adolescents report more dicussion problems with their parents compared to Finnish-born adolescents (Halme et al., 2017).
2.2 ADOLESCENTS’ ADAPTATION AND SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
The number of children with immigrant background has doubled in Finland over the last ten years (Statistics Finland, 2019a). Ethnic and cultural diversity has grown particularly in Greater Helsinki, where every fourth under school-aged child has a foreign background (every tenth in the whole country) (Statistics Finland, 2019a). Of adolescents aged 10 to 14, 9.2 per cent are first-generation immigrants in the capital region Uusimaa (5.5 per cent in the whole country) and the figures for the share of first-generation immigrants are quite similar in the older age group of 15–19 years (10.0 per cent in Uusimaa, 6.3 per cent in the while country) (Statistics Finland, 2019c). Also, due to quite recent increases in immigrant figures, the
immigrant second generation in Finland is young. While in 2018 the average age of persons with a Finnish background was 44, it was 11 years among second-generation immigrants (Statistics Finland, 2019a).
In Finland, both first-generation immigrants and second-generation youth are falling behind pupils with a non-migrant background in different dimensions of assessment in educational achivement (i.e., mathematical
literacy, reading literacy, scientific literacy) according to the international assessment PISA (Harju-Luukkainen & McElvany, 2018). The results concerning school attainment of adolescents with a migrant background are however dependent on the family’s socioeconomic position and parental work status in particular (Harju-Luukkainen & McElvany, 2018; Kilpi-Jakonen, 2012). As concerns school adjustment in Finland, in line with the results from many other Western countries, students with a migrant background have been found to enjoy school more than their native peers (Liebkind, Jasinskaja-Lahti, & Solheim, 2004). In regard to psychological adaptation, adolescents with an immigrant background have been found to have more anxiety symptoms, and experience more discrimination compared to non-immigrant youth (Halme et al., 2017). A longitudinal study on
Vietnamese in Finland has shown how perceived discrimination experiences in childhood have negative long-term effects for adaptation (Kosonen, 2008).
The growing cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity has challenged schools to develop new tools and thinking in order to accommodate all children into the school system and to support their academic and personal development. This demands a lot of support and cooperation with migrant families who often are not familiar with the Finnish schooling system. Also, while the important aim of the Finnish comperensive school system is to ensure and strengthen equality, school may inadvertently serve as a social arena where the inequalities of society are reproduced (Säävälä, 2012).
Finally, it should be noted that in international comparison school choices of Finnish parents are not highly selective, and the majority of the schools and neighbourhoods are doing well, though there has been signs of increasing school segregation in Helsinki (Bernelius & Vaattovaara, 2016). The role of private education in Finland is nevertheless only a minor, and middle-class parents may even prefer to put their children to ‘ordinary’ schools instead of elite schools (Lobato, Bernelius, & Kosunen, 2018).